#tpb x reader

you're the main reason he's trying to stay out of jail. because if he goes back, he won't be able to see you. maybe they'll grant conjugal visits, but would you even want to continue being with him at that point? it's a big worry for him

you're also the main reason he's striving to earn money. he's never had a lot of it and all he wants is to be able to afford to treat you to extravagancy, even if that isn't what you're about. he wants to buy you some nice jewellery and take you on nice vacations, which he has talked about in a lone confessional before

as if he wasn't the main guy in the park before, he sure feels it with you on his arm. he likes walking around just so people can see him with you and he can get an ego boost (which he doesn't need lbr)

you pointing out when he's being a jerk to ricky. it's a sensitive subject for him because it makes him feel like an asshole. but he's selfish sometimes, and he needs to hear it from the person he cares about the most

he likes to pick you up and sling you over his shoulder out of nowhere just because he can (have you seen his biceps??? dude can LIFT). he also can do it with his drink in one hand

speaking of drinks, he likes to sit on his lawn with you late at night and get hammered together

jules wears his heart on his sleeve and he falls FAST. he's more than willing to let you move in with him a week after knowing you, thinking about what jewellery he can buy for you, never letting you pay for a meal

small gestures. offers a hand or places it on the small of your back when you're walking up some stairs, holds doors open for you (this extends to his car, and he'll close it for you), drives to the store on your behalf if you need anything (and pays for it himself). he doesn't want you to lift a finger

he tries to keep it a secret from ricky at first, because rick can get a little bit jealous if he's seeing a girl. but you get along with him really well, so he's actually pretty psyched for you both when he finds out, if a bit annoyed at julian for not telling him

keeps you far away from the shady bullshit he inevitably gets involved with, because he doesn't want you to get in trouble or have to deal with lahey being a dick

lahey hates that you're together btw, he thinks you can do much better

slow dancing in his trailer to quietly playing music, gently swaying with you. curtains are drawn because he doesn't want anybody to see or know and start calling him patrick swayze again

he likes to get out of the park for dates, mainly to avoid the bullshit. there's always something going on there and he's the oracle that can fix everything. sometimes he just wants to ignore all of that and spend time with you alone, but 90% of the time his cellphone goes off and the date is cut short so he can solve whatever problem it is

Your face is flushed from the booze you’ve been drinking, your eyes bright with laughter at another joke made at Ricky’s expense. Julian watches you carefully over the rim of the glass he always has in hand, wondering if you realize that your short dress has ridden up your thighs as much as it has, giving him little glimpses of the soft cotton underneath every time you shift in your seat. He instantly knows that you’re very aware when your gaze drifts his way, lingering on his crotch for more than a beat before traveling slowly up, quickly looking away when you realize you’ve been caught staring. He hides his satisfied smile behind a sip from his glass, though you still catch his muted chuckle in between Ricky’s drunken commentary. 

You lean over to whisper something to Bubbles, affectionately squeezing his hand when he raises it to wave you off as you stand shakily, making your way slowly to Julian lounging a few feet away. You’re too focused on putting one foot in front of the other to notice the way Julian’s undressing you with those bright blue eyes of his — or are you? 

“Hey, Jules,” you greet, a shy little smile quirking your lips. You just barely nibble on your lower lip when you catch sight of the way his jaw flexes at the sound of his nickname on your tongue. Ricky and Bubbles have called him that for as long as he’s known them, but there’s something about the way it sounds falling from your lips that drives him insane. He looks up at you without moving his head, only his eyes, and likes the way you swallow thickly before you ask, “Would you be willing to do me a huge favor? Pretty please?”

“What’s up?” he responds, perfectly casual, until your small hand finds his big shoulder and that muscle in his jaw flexes again. 

“Walk me home?” you plead. “I know it’s not far, but I overdid it a little and can barely stand up on my own.” You look down at your hand still on his shoulder, now putting some weight into the touch, telling him wordlessly that he’s the only thing keeping you upright. 

He takes a second, relishes the way it seems like you’re holding your breath until he responds. His expression doesn’t change, but he nods, “Sure. No problem,” and you breathe out a quiet sigh of relief. 

You don’t take your hand back just yet, letting your touch linger, and your fingertips drift down his arm as he stands to his full height, practically towering over you. When you don’t make a move to head out, he takes a hold—not too firm, but not too gentle either—of your bicep, his whole hand just about able to wrap around it, and your barely-noticeable gasp has his jaw flexing again. 

He leads you on to your trailer on the other side of the park. Not a long walk, but you stumble once or twice, mostly because you’re doing a bad job at pretending not to stare at the way his bicep flexes as he guides you along. After a while, the cool night air raises chill bumps along your arms, and you regret not bringing an extra layer besides the short dress you’ve got on. Or, you would. 

“Cold tonight,” you murmur, trying to keep your teeth from chattering. Julian doesn’t respond, just wraps his guiding arm around your shoulders instead, pulling you closer to his warmth. You can’t help the little grin that forms at the gesture, moulding yourself to his side as close as you can. 

He’s taking you the long way home, following the path of the dirt road closely, instead of the shortcut you normally take between the other park resident’s trailers. It’s understandable, given the particularly nasty argument you couldn’t help but overhear between Julian, Ricky, and Lahey this morning, and you usually cut right behind the trailer Lahey and Randy share on your way home. You want to ask him about it, but you have something much more pressing on your mind. 

“Hey, Jules?” you ask softly beside him. He looks down at you out of the corner of his eye, just giving a short “hmm?” in response as he takes a sip from his glass. “I have a little confession to make.” 

He looks at you fully now, dark brows knitting together. What? he’s asking you without saying it. “I’m not really drunk. I only had one beer. And, well, a half of another before Ricky stole it,” you admit with a small shrug. “And I have a bigger confession to make.” 

You’ve reached your trailer, and Julian pulls you to a stop at the base of your front steps, his grip on your shoulders tightening ever so slightly. “And?” he prods, turning you to face him directly, with your trailer at your back. 

“I just asked you to walk me home to get more time with you. Y’know. Without…everyone else,” you finish in a whisper. You look up at him with big doe eyes, worrying your bottom lip between your teeth, waiting for him to say something. He makes you wait, his blue eyes snagged on your mouth for a long moment before they flicker up to meet your own. 

A little smirk makes its way to Julian’s lips slowly, and he moves just as slowly when he shoves you backward with a hand on your shoulder, his knuckles taking the brunt of any impact as your back hits the side of your trailer. He cages you in with his other arm resting against your trailer above your head, not spilling a drop of his drink with practiced ease. “Here I was wanting to take advantage of you.”

You still can, you want to say, but you can’t get the words out. You’re trembling, just barely, under him, and that only encourages him more. He lets go of your shoulder, only to grab hold of your lower jaw, his big hand nearly reaching from one hinge to the other. You curse under your breath, closing your eyes at feeling how much bigger he is than you, but he gently tilts your head from side to side, as if shaking your head for you.

“Nuh-uh, sweetheart. You look at me when I’m talkin’ to you,” Julian demands, his tone firm but not aggressive. He impatiently taps his fingertips against your jaw when you don’t respond right away, and that smirk is right back in place when you slowly flutter your eyes open. “There’s my good girl.” 

“Fuck, Julian,” you whimper at the praise, knees feeling weak. He chuckles at that, and you know you’ve made a grave mistake. 

“You like that?” he asks. When you don’t respond right away, he tightens his grip on your jaw just enough for you to get the hint, but far from hard enough to hurt you. “I asked you a question, sweetheart.” 

You nod quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, I do,” you whisper, voice sounding meek. 

He clicks his tongue at you, cooing teasingly, “Where’d all that courage go, huh? What’s got you so quiet?” 

“Didn’t think I’d make it this far,” you admit sheepishly. He’s so intense and right there that it’s hard to maintain eye contact, and it feels like your cheeks are on fire with embarrassment. 

“Well, you’ve got me right where you want me. How about you let me inside?” he replies, nodding toward your front door, and you know he has to be well aware of his double entendre. You can’t help it, you look away, trying to turn your head, but his grip on you keeps your face upturned toward his. “No, no. Don’t get all embarrassed on me now.” 

“Julian,” you whine, reaching up to press your hands against his chest, but you’re not sure if you want to push him away or pull him closer. 

He makes the decision for you, and leans in, his nose brushing against yours, lips nearly touching. Time itself seems to stop as he shifts his grip from your face to the back of your neck, thumb barely tracing the line of your lower lip on the way. He murmurs against you, “Only thing you should be ashamed of is that you didn’t let me know sooner,” before claiming your mouth with his own. 

You fist one hand into his shirt, pulling his body flush with yours, tangling the fingers of your other hand in his hair to keep his mouth right where you want it. You’re lightheaded before long, head swimming with want and need and him. He teases your lips apart, flicking his tongue lightly against yours, the syrupy sweetness of his rum and coke better than anything you’ve ever tasted. But that little taste is all he gives you, breaking the kiss slowly, hesitating as if he’s waiting for you to make the next move. 

“Guess we’ll have to make up for lost time then,” you tell him softly. You push him back a step with the hand that’d been gripping his shirt. There’s that hungry look in those blue eyes again. “What was that you said earlier, about coming inside?” 

Julian takes a slow breath in through his nose, like he’s trying to calm down, hold himself back. “Don’t tease me.” His voice is low, rough. 

You bite your lip again, maybe trying to hide a sly little grin of your own, and shake your head slowly. “I’m not. I’m making you a promise.” 

He groans softly, as if trying to hide it, and the sound goes right to your core. “Promise me one more thing,” he says. 

“What?” Anything. God, anything at all. With the hand lingering on the back of your neck, he grabs hold of your hair and gives a little tug, with just enough force for you to gasp and whine out again, “Julian.” 

“Promise me you’ll say my name just like that when I’m making that little pussy mine,” Julian growls, using his grip on your hair to pull you into another kiss. Your weak knees are just about to give out on you when he parts from you, nipping your lower lip as he pulls away. 

“Inside. Now,” is all you can manage, pushing him backward until he gives you enough space to turn and stumble up your front steps. 

“Thought you said you weren’t drunk,” he remarks, sarcasm lilting his tone. He follows closely after you to make sure you don’t hurt yourself, or perhaps that’s just what he tells himself.

You glance back over your shoulder at him, grinning. “Maybe you’ll get to take advantage of me after all.” 

His eyes darken. “Inside. Now,” he repeats your sentiment, and reaches around you to open your front door. 

You just about fall inside, and Julian’s right behind you, all but slamming the door behind him and flipping the deadbolt for good measure. He takes one last drink from his glass and sets it down, the ice clinking against the sides of the glass. You blink at him, unsure if you’ve ever seen him with two free hands, but he doesn’t give you time to wonder what he’ll need them both for. He walks you into your kitchen, coming to a stop only when you back into the countertop. He crashes his lips down onto yours again, and grabs your ass with both hands to lift you up and onto the counter. 

Julian slots himself between your legs without a second thought, as if that’s exactly where he belongs. You wrap your legs around his waist, trapping him against you, and fist both hands in his shirt to keep him there. He busies his own hands with your thighs, leaving chill bumps covering your skin in the wake of his touch. 

Despite the chill bumps on your skin, it’s quickly getting too hot, and you can’t stand the layers between you and Julian. You fumble with untucking his t-shirt from his jeans, sliding your hands underneath the fabric to feel his skin against yours. He sighs softly into the kiss as you reverently explore his muscles beneath your nervous hands, inching his shirt up bit by bit, closer and closer to coming off. He tolerates your gentle touch for as long as he possibly can before he breaks away from your kiss and rids himself of the shirt entirely. 

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” you mumble as you take him in, almost unsure of how you were lucky enough to find yourself in this position. 

When you meet his blue eyes, you catch a glimpse of the faintest shade of pink dusting his cheeks at your compliment. Before you can comment on how adorable it is, he gives your thighs a squeeze, as if to change the subject. It works when he reaches to finger the fabric of your short dress, his knuckles brushing teasingly against the inside of your thigh as he does. 

“You wear this for me?” he asks, quirking a brow and tilting his head to make the desperate plea for you to say yes seem oh-so casual. 

You shiver at his feather-light touch. You ask in return, “What if I said I didn’t?” 

He shrugs, the noncommittal expression that goes with it touching his features for a fraction of a second before his more characteristic austerity is back in place. He cages you in, muscular arms on either side of you, his face a centimeter away from yours, but he keeps his gaze trained on your lips. “Just wanna know if this nice view was meant for anyone else is all.” 

All desire to be coy vanishes, replaced entirely by need. “Just for you, Julian,” you promise before closing the gap between his lips and yours. You try to pull him impossibly closer, legs wrapping tighter around his waist, and the feeling of his hard length against your aching pussy has you whimpering into the kiss and cursing the layers of clothing left between you.

Julian’s lips leave yours only to trail a line of open-mouthed kisses down your neck, making you gasp each time he lightly grazes his teeth on your skin. You’re sure there’s going to be a mark or two or ten in the morning, but right now, you don’t care. Not like anyone in Sunnyvale is in any sort of position to judge you anyhow. 

“Gonna fuckin’ ruin you,” Julian mumbles in between the kisses he now trails along your chest. He works in a few light bruises to the tops of your breasts, enough to match the ones he’d already put on your neck. That’s a problem for Tomorrow-you, though. Today-you can only think about how much you’d love for him to collect on that promise, your head completely clouded with want, with need, unable to focus on anything that isn’t him. 

Julian’s worked his way around to the neglected side of your neck when he grazes his fingertips along your thigh lightly before diving between your legs. You gasp at the feeling of his fingertips ghosting over your soaked panties, but you still spread your legs wider to give him better access despite your surprise. He manages to unlatch himself from your neck long enough to tease, “This all for me?” 

You thread your fingers through the dark curls at the nape of his neck, using your grip as leverage to push his face back into your neck. “Shut up. You know it is,” you mumble, ignoring his satisfied little chuckle against your skin.

You let your head lean against the cabinet at your back when he hooks his thumb in your panties to pull them aside, using his other hand to tease your clit with a feather-light touch, knowing it’s not enough pressure to get you anywhere. He’s impatient though, and slips one finger, then two, past your folds, groaning against your throat at the feeling of you. “So fuckin’ tight,” he murmurs, “Am I even gonna be able to fit, sweetheart?” 

You gasp, your cheeks feeling somehow hotter at his words. But you know well enough now that you have the same effect on him, if you can just think straight. “Dunno. Guess we’ll just have to make it fit,” you manage to gasp out. 

You earn a quiet curse for that. His teeth find the soft junction between your neck and shoulder and his fingers find that spot that makes you see stars in no time. Your own hands find his big shoulders, nails biting into his skin as he works you up easily. But, even while his fingers feel amazing, you know something that would feel even better, and you manage to tell him as much in between the soft gasps he draws from you with each motion of his hand. 

He curses again, taking another of those deep breaths to keep himself in check, and takes his hand from between your legs. He takes a moment to admire how slick you’ve made his fingers before allowing himself a taste of you. You let loose a shaky breath, unable to tear your eyes away even as you nudge him backward to slip off the counter. “Bed. Now,” you say, taking his other hand and leading him to your bedroom, doing your best not to stumble and fall along the way.

You doubt he cares or would even take notice, but you’re nonetheless thankful you’d taken the time to make your bed this morning—maybe it makes you seem subconsciously more put-together than the mess that Julian’s turned you into. Though, your neat bedsheets certainly don’t matter now as you kneel on the edge of them and pull Julian in close by his belt loops. Your eagerness makes his sly little smile blossom into a full blown grin that brings out that cute little dimple in his cheek, but tragically, you’re far too preoccupied with undoing his belt and the zipper and button on his pants to notice. 

He gives you a hand in ridding himself of the rest of his clothes, and you try not to seem too awestruck at the sight of his length—he’d probably been right to wonder if you’ll be able to handle him, teasing pillow talk as it was. You’re desperate to find out though, and start to wiggle your way out of your dress until Julian stops you with hands on your hips. 

“Keep it on. For now,” he says, eyes drawn to how delicately the fabric hugs your cleavage, though his earlier exploration has left your breasts nearly falling out the top of the dress. He reminds you, “You put it on for me, didn’t you?”

You had. Of course you had. You’d spent at least forty-five minutes earlier this evening debating on if you should even wear such a skimpy piece of clothing outside of your trailer, and it wasn’t until Sarah gave you an approving grin and a swat on the ass after telling you that Julian couldn’t possibly take his eyes off of you in it that you’d gotten the nerve to even step outside. 

You nod somewhat hesitantly in confirmation to Julian’s question. He mirrors your nod with a knowing one of his own, glancing toward his hands on your hips, where he moves one to trace his fingertips along the edge of your panties. “Don’t think we’ll be needing these though, do you?” 

You shake your head, and he starts to slide them off, letting them drop around your knees. You let yourself fall back on the bed to get them the rest of the way off, and Julian is on top of you in a second, spreading your legs wide and easily finding his place between them. He leans in to kiss you again as if he’ll never get enough, body pressing fully against yours, and your head spins at the incredibly satisfying feeling of his weight atop you, pinning you against the mattress. Your shaky hands find his big shoulders in attempt to keep yourself grounded, but it doesn’t last long. 

Any ability to form a coherent thought is lost completely when Julian breaks away to slowly drag the head of his cock through your soaked folds, cruelly tracing along your dripping seam once, twice, before teasing your swollen clit. You gasp at the contact, arching up off the bed beneath him. 

“Please,” you beg, barely able to eke the word out. 

“Please what?” Julian demands, keeping his tone gentle but firm. When you don’t respond right away, Julian tilts your head up to meet his eyes. “Gotta use your big girl words, sweetheart. Tell me what you want.” 

You whine back, “Fuck, Julian, I swear to god—”

He cuts you off, tutting at you softly. “Swear to me, sweetheart. Tell me what you need.” 

“You,” you whisper, “inside me. Now. Pleasepleaseplease, Jules.”

Julian nods, unable to stop himself from smirking at the mess he’s already made of you, and he hasn’t even gotten inside of you yet. You’re almost nervous to find out how much more of a mess he’ll make, seemingly intent on keeping his promise of ruining you entirely before the night is done. But your nerves are replaced entirely by white hot desire when the tip of Julian’s cock slips past your entrance. He takes his time, letting you adjust and feel every single inch of him as he fills you completely. He curses softly and drops his head to rest in the crook of your neck when he bottoms out. 

“Fuck, you feel too good,” he grunts into your neck. He rests most of his weight on one forearm, using his free hand to sling one of your legs around his waist to allow him a deeper angle, earning a soft little whine from you that makes his breath hitch.

“You feel better,” you manage, in spite of the fog of lust clouding your mind. And it’s true. This blissful feeling of fullness is unlike any other and you don’t want it to end, but when you give him the affirmative to move by canting your hips up into his and his first slow, deep thrust grazes that spot that makes you see stars more precisely than his fingertips did, you quickly change what little of your mind you have left. This is better. Much better. 

He keeps that slow, deep pace, and your hips rise to meet his each time. The rational part of your mind worries that your spine might snap like a bow string with how high he’s got your back arching under him, but the rest of you is much more focused on the delicious way he’s stretching you, moulding you to fit him perfectly with each motion of his hips. 

You grab onto Julian’s shoulders to keep some tether on reality as your eyes slip closed, surrendering yourself to sensation and letting your body respond to Julian’s on instinct alone. He shifts, now guiding your other leg to wrap around his waist, allowing you to take him even deeper. When you hear his muffled groan, you slowly blink your eyes open, not realizing how far you’d let your head loll onto the pillow in your pleasantly dazed state. 

“Look at you,” Julian coos, taking hold of your lower jaw to guide your unfocused gaze toward him, to meet those pretty blue eyes of his. “Fucked you stupid already, eh?” 

You fight to keep your eyes from rolling back in your head, and somewhere in the midst of it all, you still find your cheeks burning hot at his teasing. You try to tell him to quit being so mean to you, but your voice breaks around a whimper as he rolls his hips into yours particularly deeply. 

“You look at me when I’m making you feel good, sweetheart,” he murmurs, and when you do, you earn a “There’s my good girl.” 

His words go straight to your core, your walls fluttering around him in response. You know that it’s not a question of if, but how hard Julian could make you come with his voice alone. But that’s a hypothesis to test later, as Julian takes it upon himself to graze the pad of his thumb over your clit lightly, just enough to make you gasp, but not enough pressure to bring you to the edge —yet. You know he wants to hear you first, you have to tell him what you want. Bastard. 

“Julian,” you whimper, “need more, please.” 

He gives you what you asked for without making you grovel too much, his intensified pressure on your clit making tears sting at the back of your eyes. You rake your nails up Julian’s back none too softly, perhaps trying to leave your mark on him as he’s left dozens of his on you. You’re so, so close, your hips rising to meet Julian’s with each increasingly shallow thrust, as if he can’t bring himself to pull out of your warmth for long. It’s too good, too much, and those tears threaten to spill over. 

Julian dips his head to bury his face in your neck again, his goatee scraping softly against your sensitive, love-bruised skin. Despite your pulse thundering in your ears, you hear him muffle a breathy curse by pressing his lips to your collarbone. He’s just as close as you are. His thrusts start to stutter in rhythm, little more than grinding up into you, when he says it. 

“Wanna feel you come on my cock.” It’s not a command, in spite of his tone — it’s a plea. 

You couldn’t deny him even if you wanted to, not with how tightly your pleasure is coiling in your belly, how your every breath is in time with Julian’s rhythm on your clit. He’d had you teetering on the edge of your orgasm before his pants had even come off — now that tight coil of pleasure snaps, so hard and fast that your ears are left ringing, and you come with Julian’s name on your lips. Your walls fluttering around his cock and your nails biting into his shoulders pull him over his own edge, and Julian finds his climax deep inside of you, quieting any noise he might have made by kissing your shoulder. 

The room is silent around you, save your synchronized panting for breath, your entire body buzzing in the sudden stillness as you come down slowly from your high. You need something to do with your hands, and you begin to card your fingers through Julian’s hair, twirling the curls at the nape of his neck around your fingertips. Your soft touch has Julian pulling you impossibly closer, and you think that you wouldn’t mind ending every night just like this — bonelessly wrapped around Julian’s bulk, sharing a pleasant quiet without feeling the need to fill it. 

You’re just beginning to acknowledge the unfortunate reality of the pins and needles tingling in your sore legs when Julian softly rubs your thighs as he disentangles himself from you. He presses a sweet kiss to your forehead, almost in apology for parting from you, and falls onto the bed beside you. Even while you desperately don’t want to seem clingy, you can’t keep from melting into his touch when he reaches for you to check for injuries, beyond the dozens of love-bruises he’s decorated your neck and breasts with. You note the mischievous gleam in his eyes when you gasp at the hint of pain as he glides his fingertips over them. 

“If you aren’t careful, there’ll be a round two in your very imminent future,” you threaten when his touch begins to move lower. 

“Just wanna make sure you’re alright,” he says, and gives your ass a playful tap. He turns to reach for his glass out of habit, and curses under his breath when he doesn’t find it on your bedside table.

“Oh, I’ll get it,” you say, moving to crawl out of bed before he catches you, pins you on your back with those big hands holding your arms above your head. 

“Don’t even think about it. Probably can’t even stand on your own yet,” he says smugly, kissing you in a quick, almost habitual way, as if he’d done it a thousand times. You begrudgingly admit to yourself that he’s right as he pulls on his pants, letting his belt hang loose around his waist, and goes in search of his missing drink. You bite back a smug little grin of your own at seeing the red scratches up and down his back. 

You hear Julian curse somewhere in your kitchen, and he comes back looking like his usual irritated self, not the intense man you’d just spent the night with. A flicker of…disappointment? crosses his features, and he takes a sip of his warm watered down rum and coke, setting it on the table and sitting beside you on the bed to start gathering his clothes. “Hey, I…” he can’t quite seem to bring himself to finish. 

You just nod, trying and quickly failing to hide the hurt in your expression. You hadn’t thought he’d want this to be just a one-time thing based on his behavior not even ten minutes ago, but maybe you shouldn’t really be surprised. “It’s okay. I’ll just…see you around, Julian.” 

He catches your chin in his hand, forcing you to meet those pretty blue eyes of his. “It’s not like that. What you’re thinking. It’s morning,” he nods toward your window, giving you enough slack with his grip that you can glance that way and see the weak rays of sunshine peeking under your dark curtains, “and I gotta pick up Cory and Trevor for-”

Oh thank god. 

You cut Julian off for once, with a finger to his lips, “The less I know the better. Y’know, in case you get arrested again.” 

He shakes his head and you have a feeling he’s barely avoiding rolling his eyes at you. “Listen. I’d give anything to stay here with you, but this shit’s gotta get done.” 

You, on the other hand, can’t stop your eyes from rolling. Despite it, your relief is almost palpable. “Go on. I promised Bubbles I’d help him today anyhow.” 

He nods, and though he’s still tilting your face towards him, now he’s the one that won’t quite meet your eyes. “You, uh…think I could come back tonight?” 

You couldn’t hide the wide grin that brightens your face even if you wanted to. “Yeah?” you say, but you’re really asking if he means it. 

Julian nods again, leaning in to hide his own real, genuine smile, and reaffirms against your lips, “Yeah,” before kissing you softly, sweetly. 

“Ricky, you better come up with the cash for Trinity’s field trip by the end of the day,” Lucy said, pushing him away with her hand on his chest. Their daughter had a school field trip coming up and the fees were due in two days. Ricky was growing dope again to help support his family, but this batch wasn’t going to be ready in time. He gave up his attempt at funding the school trip and thought great, Trin will get the day off and we’ll just do crafts with her or some shit. This was not an acceptable answer for Lucy. The mother wanted her daughter to fit in at school and be ‘normal,’ as normal as she could be given her upbringing. Holding her back from attending the field trip would make her stand out as sheltered. Asking the school for financial assistance would be embarrassing and then some administration might be suspicious of Trinity’s home situation. “Don’t you understand, she needs to go on this field trip? It is really important to our little girl, so GET THE MONEY,” Lucy was trying to make him understand the stakes.

While Lucy and Ricky were bickering on the porch, you and Sarah noticed. The three of you were roommates, and that made the lot fee’s easier to cover. Instead of worrying about making the payments you were able to spend extra cash on more exciting expenses. “Sarah, we should check on Lucy,” you suggested after hearing the low shouts turn into yelling outside.

Very quickly you could tell what the conversation was on. Lucy was telling you and Sarah the other day about Trinity’s upcoming field trip. The one that Ricky was supposed to pay for. In fact, he had been told about the fees the month before. “Whatever Ricky, I guess you just want Trinity to do just as well as you did in school!” Lucy was upset at Ricky for failing to get the cash needed. It frustrated her even more that it seemed like he wasn’t trying very hard.

Ricky’s Confessional: Is it so bad if Trin wants to be like her dad? Eh either way, if she wants to do well in school she totally can. She’s like 10 but she’s 100 times smarter than Cory and Trevor. I’ll figure out a way to get the money though. Julian can help me rob someone or something.

“Ricky, I think you’re done here,” you told him, starting to nudge him down the doorsteps. “‘You’re done here,’ ‘you’re done, blah blah blah, you know what, you’re done Y/N. Fuck off, I’m trying!” You crossed your arms and let Sarah and Lucy get him off the property.

You felt bad for Lucy, and mostly Trinity. The class was going to a week-long camp to do a bunch of different activities. Trinity was supposed to go kayaking, which she’d never done. Everyone in her class was excited to go, making her figure that so should she. Thankfully, she was out with her friends at the playground while her parents were arguing. Your mind was searching for ways to possibly fix the issue. The little girl had an expectation by now that she was going kayaking, telling her otherwise was going to be heartbreaking. Sarah and Lucy were sulking while you thought. You weren’t going to let money get in the way of her going on that field trip, “Hey girls, I have an idea.” The other two women perked their heads up for a moment. “We can do a carwash today and tomorrow. It’s only 9 AM, so we can get set up by noon just outside of the park. A lot of cars pass through since the gas station is across the street,” you got excited yourself as you explained a plan. Your roommates were right on board as well. Sarah went, “My god, Y/N, you are a genius! If we’re wearing our bathing suits we can easily make a ton of cash. Trinity gets her fees first obviously, but if we make extra we can go shopping for once.”

Lucy’s formerly frowning face was brightened by your idea. She wouldn’t have to keep relying on Ricky for this money and her baby girl would get her school experience. “You used to do dancing at that ‘gentlemen’s club,’ right Lucy? We can bring the ghettoblaster and play some music. If we’re working we may as well have fun right?” Your plan was looking better and better as you three worked out the details. “Hell yes!” Lucy was a hundred percent down with the carwash.

While you, Sarah and Lucy were gathering all the tools you would need for the carwash, Ricky was asking Julian for help. “Trinity wants to go kayaking with her class on the field trip, but I don’t have my dope to sell yet. Julian, man you gotta give me a hand here. We gotta come up with 200$ by the end of the day. Lucy’s gonna freak if we don’t.” Julian loved Trinity like a daughter, so he wanted her to go to the camp. However, it was annoying that somehow Ricky’s failure was all of a sudden his problem. “Ricky, just calm down. We can sell some of the blunts we have from the last batch,” Julian was trying to get his friend to stop panicking. He knew the blunts wouldn’t be quite enough to pay the fees, but he’d eventually find a way to compensate. “Come on bud, just take a seat and let’s think about what else we could possibly sell, pawn maybe?” Ricky sighed and nodded his head as he went to sit down on the sofa.

Julian began to rifle through his cabinets for anything of value that would make him some quick cash. The phone started ringing. Ricky wanted to make sure Julian knew so he shouted, “Julian, JULIAN, JULIAN, SOMEONE IS CALLING YOU!” He picked up the phone with a cautious “Hello” and then realized it was you. “Hey Babe, what’s up?” Ricky was annoyed that it was you. He didn’t hate you, but he knew that Julian worshipped the ground you walked on and it was extremely distracting. You were the center of Julian's world now, and you were close with Lucy. “Jules, I can’t go out this afternoon, but after dinner would work,” you were letting him know that the lunch date you had set was a no-go. He was disappointed at first, but he was fine with it if he could see you later in the day. If it was later in the day perhaps he could get you to stay the night with him. He’d been meaning to ask you to, but it never happened. You were starting to wonder if he ever wanted you to stay over. “That’s cool, I’ll pick you up at 9. Can I ask what you’re up to this afternoon?” The conversation was going on painfully long for Ricky’s liking. He was rolling his eyes and imitating how he imagined you talking but without the noise. The frustration built up enough that he tugged on Julian’s classic black shirt and pointed at his watch once he was sure he had his attention. “You’re doing what? Sorry, you’re breaking up a bit. We’ll talk about it later Y/N,” he was able to say before hanging up. He wasn’t sure what you were saying, but it was something about a car getting washed, the gas station, and the girls.

As soon as Julian took the phone off his ear, Ricky grabbed it for him and plopped it back down. “We gotta sell those joints right fucking now-” he started panicking again, but Bubbles interrupted the man by letting himself into the trailer. “Hey boys, how’s it going?” He was being his friendly self as usual, but Ricky didn’t have time for smalltalk, “It’s going shit. Bubs, can you help Julian and I score 200 bucks by the end of the day? Trinity has a field trip coming up.” Bubbles agreed to sell the blunts with them and go through his shed when he got the chance.

Julian was glad Bubbles was on board, but got curious as to why he came over in the first place. “I came here because I saw your girls with Sarah putting up some fliers. Y/N was carrying a big ole sign that said ‘$18 & We’ll Wash Your Car.’ I was wondering if you guys knew about that. I mean I think it's nice-,” this time Ricky was interrupting him, “They’re gonna strip on cars?! I thought Y/N for sure was too much of a prude to do that but I guess I was wrong about her.” Ricky was impressed at first that the girls were being resourceful, but it bothered him that Lucy felt like she couldn’t rely on him.

Ricky’s Confessional: So I’m thinking, whatever, the girls can do their thing, but I’ll make more money than them by the end of the day. I’ll show them!

Julian’s Confessional: Y/N’s a clever girl, but sometimes she really shocks me. I’m not worried, but I just wanna make sure she’s safe and all. I’ll make sure I pop by sometime this afternoon to check.

“Guys let’s just gather our leftover blunts and then sell them to dumb college kids. Go now. Regroup at my place, then we’ll hit the road,” Julian directed his friends. Bubbles gave him a salute and went on his way. Ricky ran out the door and tripped down the stairs, “Fuck, fucking steps are always tripping people up. I think there’s a hole in my pants again. Bubs you gotta fix this for me later.”

By 11:30 AM, the first customer came to the carwash you, Sarah and Lucy had masterminded. It was an awkward looking boy that looked like he was in his post-secondary years. He handed you a. $20 bill and said to keep the change, so you girls got to work. “You’re welcome Jacob,” you all called out as he was driving away After he thanked you for cleaning the outside of the car.

You wore a white bikini top made of a knitted material on the outside of the demi-cups. The demi-cups covered less of your boobs than regular ones did, but it was cute and would probably serve the fundraiser well if you show a little extra skin. For bottoms, you had blue denim shorts on. They came up high enough that when you bent over enough, the bottom of your ass would show. Lucy and Sarah were styles almost identically so that you all looked like a cohesive team.

At one point, Randy and Mr. Lahey were at the gate of the park. “Good to see you guys working hard. Ricky could learn a thing or two about that,” Lahey said from the other side of the road. You didn’t want to encourage him, but you all couldn’t help but chuckle. Mr. Lahey and his assistant supervisor were whispering to each other frequently and looking over at you guys. No one could tell what they were saying, but the camera crew was able to catch a glimpse of the conversation’s audio. “Mr. Lahey, is this what you meant when you told me to wash down your car?” “Yes Randy. We can do some roleplay about this tonight if you’d like…”

The cars kept coming and at 2 PM you had made $60. “Sarah, Lucy, I’m relieved this plan is working to be honest. I wasn’t sure how much business we’d get,” you opened up with them as you were all working on the fourth car so far. Lucy spoke up, “I didn’t think it would be this good, but I’m super happy with this.”

You smiled and looked down again at the window you were scrubbing. As the afternoon went by you couldn’t help but think of your boyfriend. Earlier, on the phone you were hoping he would catch on to what you were doing and that maybe he’d drop by. Sarah could see you losing a bit of focus so she started cleaning beside you while Lucy distracted the driver for a while. “Y/N, girl, I know you miss Julian. You’ll see him tonight, so you have that to look forward to,” she encouraged you to lighten up. “I know, it’s silly. I secretly hope he comes by. It would be funner prancing around and all over his car than some weird guy I don’t really know haha,” you joked around. Lucy had been eavesdropping as she scrubbed the passenger door while leaning on it, “If he comes by he’s gonna faint seeing you like this!”

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Julian was driving with Ricky and Bubbles to head home. They had sold the weed, but came up short of what they wanted. The quota was over double of what they had made so far and they weren’t sure where to go from there. Julian was tired of fighting about money all day and just wanted to go home. Then he remembered his talk with you on the phone and what Bubbles said. As he was pulled up to the park he could see Sarah, Lucy and you, Scrubbing a car down with sponges and then waving away the car you just washed. “Looks like we’re taking a short stop before home boys,” Julian said. Ricky was feeling more confident compared to how he did in the morning because now he had $55 to pitch in. It was a lot better than the initial zero.

Julian rolled down his window and tried to play it cool when his girlfriend approached. “What can I do for ya,” you asked with your upper body leaning down so you could see him better. “Just a carwash ladies,” he turned over to Ricky to grab the cash they had made. Ricky sat there with his arms crossed, pouting. Julian had to elbow him hard to snap him out of it and yank the money from him. After that moment he passed the $55 dollars to you with a smirk on his face. “Wow, you must be feeling generous today…” you commented, slowly putting the money into your bag, making sure Lucy saw how much the boys brought.

You and Lucy started on the windshield, with Sarah starting by the trunk. The sponges from the soapy buckets came out and onto the windshield of Julian’s Monte Carlo. Your knees were placed on the hood as you rubbed the sponge on the glass. Your chest on display for Julian as you lingered predominantly on your right side. When your sponge was running out of soap water, Lucy started scrubbing the other side. Once the windshield and hood were cleaned up, you progressed to the driver’s window and Lucy went to the passenger. As you washed down the window in front of Julian you made sure to put on a bit of a show for him. Even the sound of your boobs scraping up against his window as you leaned over to clean the top of his car was turning him on, so the sight riled him to a level he was having a hard time not rolling down the window and just grabbing you.

When you were done with the window and top of the car he did roll it down. It took everything in him to control his urges and contain himself. “d’you lean over like that for every customer?” You were now squatting down to clean the spaces below the windows. “Nah, just the handsome ones,” you assured your man. It gave him joy feeling so special to you. Julian gave you a low growl, and said “Good girl. I’ll make sure I show you later tonight just how much I appreciate this,” licking his lips for a brief moment.

Before you could flirt back with him you heard Ricky blurt out “Oh my fuck that is disgusting Julian. I’m right here, I don’t need to know how bad you wanna bang Y/N.” It felt awkward for you when Ricky said it like that. Maybe it was a bit too public. Luckily Sarah spoke up for you, “Ricky, shut up. It’s sweet. At least they like each other. You and Lucy have been flipping each other off through the window for the past 5 minutes.” She had a point. You didn’t see much of it because of Julian, but you caught them exchanging creative ways to say ‘fuck you’ in different unorthodox ways of sign language. Ricky had no retorts that would be able to properly stand up to you girls so he ended the interaction sticking his tongue out at you, Sarah, and then finally, Lucy. “Fuck off! BUT MAKE SURE THAT MONEY GOES TO TRIN’S FIELD TRIP!” He went off as Julian started driving away so Ricky couldn’t make the interaction any uglier.

Y/N’s Confessional: Jokes on him, we made over a hundred dollars today. So the $55 from them, plus tomorrow… that’ll easily cover Trinity’s fees.

Lucy and Sarah chimed in as you said that with a “Kaching!”

“Rick, why’d you start that shit?” Bubbles was upset because he didn’t like all the yelling. Especially if it was between his friends. Ricky tried to play dumb as if he didn’t just piss off everyone. Bubbles wanted an answer so he clarified, “it wasn’t cool to call out Julian for flirting with his girl.” He knew his behaviour was bad so he admitted to his two best friends in the world, “Okay, maybe, just maybe, I was slightly jealous that Julian has this good thing going, and I’m just over here fighting with Lucy all the time. I love her, but it does get tiring once in a while. Anyway, I’m sorry Julian.” The men all were tired from the day so they embraced in a group hug to clear the air officially. Julian let Ricky know, “Apology accepted, just don’t do that again,” as he patted his shoulder.

Ricky’s Confessional: Maybe I was being hard on them at the carwash. I don’t regret saying it though because they are all over each other and it is GROSS.

Julian’s Confessional: He said that?! I can’t believe him sometimes. You know, when he and Lucy go at it, the whole park can hear them. I’m not exaggerating, it wakes me up at least once a month.

Bubbles: Well, I kind of wanted to say to Ricky that he was being hypocritical about the PDA stuff, but then I would have to explain what that means. That’s too much work.

At 8:30 Julian drove over to your place. He was early, but it was because he was anxious. The carwash got him hot and bothered. His thoughts for the rest of the day were dominated by you in the bikini top and shorts.

After finishing the 6th car, you took a shower and got ready for the date. When Julian knocked on the door, Sarah and Lucy let him know you were still getting ready. Somehow he convinced them to let him into the trailer and find you. You were putting on lipstick as the door creaked open. Julian slowly stepped inside and hugged you from behind. He breathed in your scent after kissing your head. “Wanna grab your toothbrush and stuff. I don’t know, pajamas maybe as well,” he suggested. Oh my god, he wants me to stay the night! You realized. Trying not to reveal how excited it made you, you simply nodded and grabbed the essentials.

On the drive over to Julian’s trailer, you two saw Trinity walking with Ricky. That got Julian interested in how the work day was for you, “You girls make enough money from the carwash?” It made you proud how from one day you had all helped make Trinity’s field trip possible, “With the cash you guys gave us plus the cars we actually made the $200. Tips from customers sure helped.” Julian had his eyes still on the road, but he took his right hand and lightly slapped it on your thigh while he said “Well, you looked good while doing it. I'm sorry Ricky was being nasty. He says he’s sorry, it was hard for him to see us flirting.” Although what he did made you annoyed, throughout the day it became funnier as you replayed it in your head. Being angry at him was too much effort so you already laughed it off.

“It’s fine. We were joking earlier that it’s him being salty he hasn't gone on a date in ages. Also, was Randy just rubbing himself on Lahey’s car like he’s a bear on a tree just now?” You turned to get a second look for a second as Julian started going faster. “If Ricky think’s we’re gross, I hope he sees that,” Julian wanted to wipe his mind from seeing the greasy shirtless man rubbing the car with his back side. You also wanted to unsee the sight, “Mr. Lahey was just staring and drinking his liquor, what a freak.” Your boyfriend also saw what you saw, but talking about it further would make it last longer in his mind. “Babe, let’s focus talk about anything else!”

“Oh yeah, so what are we doing tonight?” It was almost completely dark outside, and most places were closed. “I was thinking we could have a chill night. Watch some television and then go to bed,” could have been a lame suggestion, but being with the man you loved was easily enough to satisfy you.

When you were walking up his doorsteps hand in hand he waved off the camera crew to go away for the day. The night started with flipping through television channels for a couple minutes, but whatever you settled on wasn’t that riveting because you and Julian kept talking about random things. “So who came up with the idea today? Especially those outfits,” he questioned. Julian had you laid back with your head resting on his lap while he played with your hair. “All me Jules, did you like it?” You sat up a bit to get a better look at his expression. He was impressed with how you came up with it on the fly, but “Truthfully, as hot as it was, I don’t like the idea of other guys just getting to see that.” You weren’t going to brush off his feelings so you got up to sit beside him and keep watching him. He kept going with his thoughts, “I always want you to be safe, you know that. You’re like my angel though, so it feels like I should always be guarding you somehow. Right now, getting you all to myself is the best actually. I guess it’s silly.” Julian grabbed his glass and took a swig, not expecting much of a response from you.

“I have to do it tomorrow too. The sign and fliers included it so the girls wanted to make some extra money…” he was already nodding his head in defeat. “But, I think I know how to make it up to you,” you recovered the circumstances for your man. You had planned on getting some action that night, but now wanted to take it a step further. “This might make some people in Sunnyvale upset. I don't care though. I want you to make me scream Jules. Please, make me scream for you. Then everyone’s gonna know exactly who’s gonna be after ‘em if they give me the wrong look. Right Babe?” Now your legs were wrapping around Julian’s hips, your arms snuck their way around his neck and your face was dangerously close to his. “Anything you want Y/N,” he obliged with a dazed tone and his eyes locked on yours.

1 AM

Ricky was in his car when he first heard the rumbling from Julian’s place. The weather was warm enough and your bodies were sweating so you had cracked open the window, making the audible moaning louder to those around. “Fucking hell! Shut the fuck up you two! If you don’t quit it I’m gonna- I’m gonna, fine I’m not sure, but you gotta stop!” Ricky was demanding from outside Julian’s trailer. It was a taste of his own medicine but he wanted none of it.

Ricky’s Confessional: Y/N and Julian are like teenagers when they get together. I have no idea where it comes from but they’re just on each other 24/7. Like you would think they’d get tired, but no. There are breaks, and I’ll think it is finally over... but they’re still going.

Ricky was going back to his car telling the camera crew, “I think I can finally sleep now. No more ‘fuck faster’s for me to endure. I guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow-“ he was sorely mistaken. “Juliannnn, it’s your turn to be on top I think big guy!” You called out. Ricky was pissed. He was hitting the ground with his hockey stick, raging. “Goddammit! What does it take for a man to have peace around here!”

11 AM

Bubble’s Confessional: Oh, I had no idea until you guys just told me about the noises last night. See, after Lucy and Ricky being so loud I make sure to keep some ear plugs next to my bed. I just block out the greasy stuff.

Julian’s Confessional: Last night was awesome. Can’t tell you what we did, but Y/N’s probably moving in soon.

Ricky’s Confessional: SHE’S MOVING IN?! No no no no, that can’t happen. I need sleep! They didn’t stop until Like 3 AM. Guys, I think I’m gonna have to start parking the car somewhere else if this keeps up.

LATE MAY Ricky loved Lucy, he really did. Well, he loved her the best he could love her. It was hard for Ricky to not love the mother of his child. But Trinity was really the only thing they had in common. Ricky was nothing short of a deadbeat dad, waffling in and out of Trinity's life - though he was trying. What did it matter when he could always trust Julian to handle it? Julian always dropped by to see Trinity, he was basically her uncle, so what the fuck did it matter if he needed to slip off and get piss drunk? Life used to be more fun, but that was so long ago - way before Ricky ever really considered Lucy as an option. You were everything he wasn't - smart, driven, and destined for greatness. And, unlike others, you actually truly believed in him.  And God knew that Ricky loved Lucy in the best way that he could - but Lucy wasn't you. "Why don't you take Trin and I out to the park, Ricky?" Lucy inquires. "You know I hate this fucking season," Ricky waves Lucy off, lighting the cigarette between his lips. "I hate the fucking rain and the sunshine and the wet grass and butterflies and shit, it's fucking annoying."  "Yeah, that's what it is." Lucy responds shortly, "You know, why don't you ever talk -"  "There's nothing to fucking talk about Lucy. What do you want me to do? Tell the butterflies to fuck off and the sun to stop shining? News flash, I already did and fucking spring is still here." Before Lucy can express any concern over Ricky, the door to their home is slammed shut, bouncing a few times before it finally clicks closed.

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° 1989 ┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ °

"What are you doing out here during school hours?"  Ricky is leaned against the water fountain, a cigarette placed gently between his lips. "What the fuck does it look like I'm doing? I'm smoking a fucking cigarette. What's it to you?"  "You're not supposed to be skipping class. Or smoking a cigarette on school property."  "Well fuck me officer, sorry for breakin' the law. What are you anyway, the fucking hall monitor?"  "I am." You're scribbling writing down furiously onto the notepad issued to you by the high school. You stroke him a ticket, ripping it off the pad and handing it to him. Ricky takes it despite the fact he's unable to read. "Yeah well, you wanna know what I think about your fucking ticket officer?" He rips it into pieces, throwing it into the water fountain. He slams his elbow down onto the water fountain, spewing water all over the paper. It grows wet quickly before breaking apart, stopping up the drain. "Fuck you, that's what I think about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some fucking dope to sell. Or you gonna stroke me a ticket for that too?” ┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° You two didn't exactly get off on the right foot - but then again, nobody got off on the right foot with Ricky. He was a troubled kid who ran his mouth too much. He had expected that interaction to be the last between you two, but it wasn't. It seemed like everywhere you turned, Ricky was there - causing fucking problems. It only got worse when, in a last-ditch-effort to keep Ricky in school, your math teacher had begged you to tutor him. You had worked wonders with other kids like Ricky, so why not try? You didn't want to at first but with a bit of a convincing, and monetary payment, you had agreed to tutor Ricky. If Ricky remembered correctly, he skipped the first tutoring session. He thought that that would be the end of that, but the next day you had confronted him in front of all of his closest dope-fiend friends after school. "I can't believe you wasted my time like that."  "What the fuck are you going on about?"  "We were supposed to have a tutoring session."  "You seriously fucking thought I'd show up to that stupid shit? You've got to have shit for brains. I don't do schoolwork."  "I'm your last chance to pass math, if you don't show up to these tutoring sessions then Mr. Richards is going to fail you without a question."  "Do you think I give a fuck if he fails me? Tell him to fucking fail me, I don't give a fuck. I'm not even gonna finish my grade ten. I got a good dope-sellin' business, I'm makin' a lot of money. I don't need this shitty fucking place."  "Do you plan on doing anything with your life other than growing dope?"  "Nope."  "What's it going to take to get you there, Ricky?" You couldn't help it. You just loved a good challenge. "Nothing."  "Nothing at all?"  "You know what, if you took me out to that buffet off of second street for every tutoring session and paid, I'd show up to it."  "Done."  There's a silent pause. "Are you being fuckin' serious?"  "Yes."  "You'll pay for me?"  "If you come and actually work."  "I mean shit, why not. Free food is free food. When should I show up?"  "Tonight at six." 

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° From the way Ricky ate, it was obvious that food was a scarcity at home. So much for making a good living off of dope. But it seemed like food was a good motivator. Ricky sucked dick at math, but at least he was trying - well, as hard as Ricky could try. Threatening to end your sessions seemed to be good enough to scare him into complying, and over time it really seemed that Ricky was actually improving in math. He was nowhere near passing, but the fact that Ricky could bring his grades up from a straight 0 to 40 was impressive - even to Mr. Richards. "Why do you do this anyway?" He asks one session, out of the blue. "Everyone deserves to have someone in their corner rooting for them. If food is what it takes to get you to get your grade ten, then I'll empty my pockets. You think you're stupid Ricky, but you're not. You just need someone around to give you an extra push." 

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." He's hitting the palm of his hand against his forehead, eyes pinched close. The thoughts about you had died down years ago - why was it coming up just now? He takes the joint between his fingers and brings it to his lips, inhaling and then exhaling. "I need to get fucking drunk tonight."  "Maybe you should slow down on that smokin', Ricky. Why don't you come over and watch some cable? WWE's playin' tonight." Bubbles offers Ricky an alternative to drinking and smoking. It's usually around this time of the year, late May, when Ricky gets antsy.

He never brings you up and even claims to have forgotten about everything but his good friend Bubbles and Julian know better. Ricky usually gets more belligerent around late May. Julian guesses that it's a form of PTSD, and at one point he even tried to sit Ricky down as a friend and explain to him all of the symptoms of PTSD that jail counselor told him about, but Ricky never listens because "it's not that big of a fucking deal." So it's around this time Julian and Bubbles take a step back to give Ricky space and try to help him make it to June. But it's typically a hard task. "No offense Bubbles but that sounds like a terrible time I'd rather get piss drunk with Ray."  "Come on Ricky, you know how bad your dad gets when he's drunk. If you're gonna get drunk, at least do it in my trailer." Ever since he got out of jail, Juilan has been trying to avoid drunk get-togethers - but this is a different story. "I know exactly what you're doing Julian and I'm not fuckin' havin' it" Ricky shakes an accusatory finger at Julian, "I don't need your fuckin' pity."  "It's not pity, Ricky. You're telling me you don't wanna come over, get drunk, and eat chicken fingers?"  "Are you buying the chicken fingers?"  "Sure," Julian concedes, "I'll buy the chicken fingers."  "Then fuck yeah I'm comin' over." 

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° It's around this time of year that no amount of liquor can get rid of the nightmares and the memories. Even piss-ass drunk leaning over Julian's toilet hurling, every second of your relationship with him flashes through his memory. Some of the memories are good. "Remember that time (name) and I got caught fuckin' around with Lahey's yard flamingos? That shit was so funny. He was so pissed." Julian rubs Ricky's back, listening to him blabber on about the memories in between dry heaving and vomiting. "Or the time (name) beat J-Roc in a hotdog eating contest? That shit was -" Ricky stops talking so he can hurl out the fifteen chicken fingers he ate against better judgement, "- that shit was so funny. Or that time we blew off homecoming and drove out to make-out point and . . ." Ricky pauses, half a smile cracking his lips, "You know, (name) -"  "Alright Ricky," When Ricky lifts his head up, it's obvious that his skin is soaked in tears. Julian doesn't comment on it, though. Ricky would only deny the fact that he's been crying. "I think I'm allergic to these fucking chicken fingers, they're making my fucking eyes water."  "Uh-huh" Julian is wiping down Ricky's face with warm water, cleaning up his mess before helping his friend stumble onto the couch. Some of the memories are bad, though. Memories of arguing flash through his head. 

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ °

"You can't fucking drop out to sell dope! You've worked too hard for this!"  "You mean you've worked too hard for this, I know Mr. Richards is paying you to tutor me. I bet he's paying you to date me, too!"  "It's not like that, Ricky!" You plead, "Yes, he was paying me to tutor you! But he's not paying me to like you, Ricky. He's not paying me to love you."  Ricky seems taken aback by the comment. It's the first time you've told him you loved him. For a second, he thinks about apologizing, about kissing all over your face and promising you that he'd never talk about dropping out again. You had a future together, you were going to graduate together, grow old together, and die together holding hands. But Ricky always lets his anger get the best of him. "No, you know what (name)? Fuck you. Fuck off. You're just saying that so you can get more money from Mr. Richards."  "Ricky, I love you, I swear -" Ricky waves his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just fuck off already and get out of my hair. I don't want to see you again. In fact, I wouldn't want to see you if I was on my fucking deathbed breathing my last fucking breaths." 

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ ° "They shouldn't have been there Julian, they weren't supposed to be there." Ricky rolls forward, his head placed in his hands. Every time Julian opens his mouth to speak, Ricky is speaking over him in frantic sobs. It's not typical to see Ricky like this, only in late May. "It was just a dope deal gone wrong, they shouldn't have been there, they shouldn't have been there. I didn't know they were going to be there. It was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened and it's all my fucking fault, it's all my fucking fault, it's all my fucking fault." 

There’s not much Julian can say to soothe Ricky. He’s tried, but it’s never been enough. The only thing they can do is make it through the rest of the month.

┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ ◛ °

You weren't supposed to be there. In fact, Ricky had thought the fuck off was enough to keep you away. But there you were, coming around his house in the middle of the night. You didn't think much of the other two people who were hanging around Ricky on Ray's porch. You just assumed it was Julian and Bubbles. You were here to beg for him back, to tell him how much you loved him and how much you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him. Young love, right? The guys on the porch weren't expecting visitors. There weren't supposed to be visitors. Ricky hadn't planned for visitors. Ricky had told them there wouldn't be anyone around. So as you walked up the steps, a commotion broke out. "You said there wasn't going to be anyone around! Is this a fucking sting? This is a fucking sting!"  "No officers! I swear, I didn't know someone was coming. No-one is supposed to come! Wait! Wait! Wait! Put the fucking gun down! That's just my friend! Fuck!"  Ricky can't get to them fast enough and a gunshot rings in the air. The moment the two cops realize it's a teen crumpled up on the ground and not an undercover agent, they're rushing to their car. "You shot (name)! You shot them! Get the fuck over here and help us!"  "Sorry kid, we gotta go! We can't be seen around this shit or we'll lose our jobs and go to jail. That's how these things go. word of the wise, you shouldn't have friends you actually like if you're gonna be in this business, kid."  Ricky is left alone to tear off his shirt, pushing it against the bullet hole right in your abdomen. Blood seeps through the shirt, soaking it. People are leaving their homes now, rushing to the scene of the crime in a panic. There's a large commotion, though Lahey breaks it up. "What the fuck did you get into, kid? What the fuck have you done?"  "I didn't do shit! If you're not gonna help Lahey then fuck off! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Don't you dare fucking die, if you die I'm going to have to bring you back and fucking kill you myself! Just hold on a bit longer."  But you were already gone.

Working out was an amazing outlet to release negative energy. This energy was usually rage from people at work or elsewhere pissing you off. Regardless, the gym always eases your mind. Lately, there’s been a feeling as if someone’s watching. The people there were usually from the park, but occasionally there were severely cheap gym rats. Ah gym creeps, not many of them, but there’s usually a couple. Whatever, as long as they didn’t make a physical move you thought. If someone was going to be staring though, you had a preference.

There was one man you wanted to see during your gym trips. Julian, the owner of the place. He was always lingering around the building. Sometimes he was lifting weights himself, telling employees what to do, or sipping on his drink on a break, leaning on a wall outside. Before the gym, you had heard of him, since he’s always firing his handgun and fighting with Mr. Lahey. With you being a regular now, you knew each other’s names. He’d always ask how your workout was on your way out. It was a nice routine of being acquainted, but it would be nicer to get a bit closer.

You never knew, but when Julian was at the main desk checking people in and you would walk out, his eyes were trained directly on your ass. As soon as the door was closed and he noticed the camera crew giving him a look he’d give them the death stare demanding “Would ya stop filming me!” As far as you could tell though, he was just the friendly gym owner. Of course with the sexy raven black hair, tall stature and solid chest.

One day you showed up to the gym with Sarah. She didn’t usually go with you, but she said she was trying to get more exercise these days and you seemed like the perfect person to help her out. Sarah was one of your best friends in the park. The woman met you when she got back from jail and didn’t have a place to stay, so you let her crash for a few days before she patched things up with Lucy. She said she’d introduce you to her soon.

“Oh yeah by the way Sarah, the owner of this place… he’s so cute but I never seem to be able to have a solid conversation with him. It’s good because he makes sure to chit chat with me everyday, but you know, I wanna be able to talk to him outside of here, if that makes sense,” you told her getting out of the car. In that moment Sarah from surprise spray spit out her sip of water she was in the middle of. “Y/N, do you mean Julian?! Fuck I grew up around that guy. Him, Ricky and Bubbles,” Sarah started explaining that she actually knew your gym crush. In fact Lucy was in a relationship with Ricky and they had a daughter, Trinity. You asked what Sarah knew about Julian and she said, “Well, he’s a leader, he tries to take care of everyone in the park. People usually don’t describe him as ‘cute,’ but I can see it. Warning you right now though, I know he’s had a few run-ins with the law over the years.” The last part was a bit worrisome, but eh it was a trailer park, most of the people there were a little questionable.

Once you guys got inside the gym you went to use the lat-pulldown machine. You showed Sarah how to do the movement slowly and how to grip the bar with your hands properly, before doing a set. Then it was her turn. Repeat the cycle.

All of a sudden in the middle of Sarah’s third set a man with curly ginger hair and a tacky shirt shoved her to the side saying “Fuck off Sarah, I gotta get this done before my date with Lucy!” Sarah was on the ground and started getting up with you helping her. When she got both feet steady on the ground you were ready to be angry at this jackass.

“You, yeah you asshole. Why’d you just push my friend in the middle of her set? That’s extremely rude you entitled prick,” you stood up for Sarah. Both of you had your arms crossed, glaring at Ricky. A scene was starting to form after Ricky had first shoved Sarah. Ricky was getting more and more agitated by the situation he had caused. “Sarah, and I don’t know who the hell you are, I have to get ready for my date in 30 minutes, but these muscles gotta be taken care of right now. You two are fucking up my workout-“ Ricky was stopped in the middle of his tangent by Julian coming over and slapping his hand over Ricky’s mouth. He looked beyond embarrassed, as he should at his friend’s behaviour. “Girls, I’m really sorry for what just happened, you can work out here for free for the next month. I’ll make sure Ricky leaves you alone for the rest of your workout,” he assured you. Ricky was trying to yell through Julian’s hand. You couldn’t believe Sarah’s friend was actually dating this guy.

Ricky’s Confessional: The new girl is annoying, should know her place you know. Fuck, I can shove Sarah whenever I want. She was in the way!

Julian pushed Ricky behind him, still trying to defuse the situation. Ricky was still swearing at you and Sarah so you yelled back, “If you’re so worried about your date, working out the day of isn’t going to hide the fact you’re out of shape you loser!” Probably not the most calming thing to say, but this guy deserved it. That comment got Ricky furious. How dare she downplay my muscular physique! He got free from Julian and was charging at you. Usually you would be more afraid of a man, but Ricky was the definition of sloppy.

Y/N’s Confessional: Yeah I punched him.

Once he was close enough in range to you he gave him a solid right hook. He was toppling over after the punch and then hit the ground when you kneed him in the abdomen. As soon as he hit the ground, Sarah was raving about how what you had just done was “So badass.” However, you were scared because that was probably technically assault of some sort. At least he attacked first so it should be categorized as self-defense. “Julian, my apologies for the scene, we’ll just get goin’,” you told him. With everyone staring you just wanted to go home. “Y/N, wait-,” Julian started trying to get you to stay, but you and Sarah were gone.

Ricky was fuming, ready to hit anything in his vicinity. After what happened Julian was pissed. “God Ricky, why’d you do that? Y/N just ran off because of you,” he had his hand with no drink shoving his pointer finger in Ricky’s chest. “Well if they just stepped aside when I asked them to, none of this would've happened,” Ricky pathetically tried to defend himself. His lying skills were handy with the police, but Julian could see right through him by now. Julian was fed up and tired of listening to his excuses, “You better be on your way for your date. Lucy’s probably waiting.” The ginger put his head down and shyly walked away like a defeated child. Julian also took this opportunity to tell everyone, “Go mind your business, nothing happened.”

Julian’s Confessional: Fucking Ricky, he messed up the whole thing with Y/N and I. I’m pretty sure Sarah told her Ricky’s my friend, so now it looks like I'm hanging out with dicks.

Y/N’s Confessional: For sure Ricky’s a dick. I don’t know, I’ll probably talk about it with Julian later. I mean I hope he didn’t break the pulldown machine.

You dragged Sarah back to the car and hopped in just to escape the people and the gym for a while. “Sarah, let's go back after dinner, but I don’t want to go right now,” you explained. Sarah understood because she’d been dealing with Ricky for the majority of her life.

Since the workout fell through, you left the park for a quaint little diner nearby. Sarah was telling you some stories about being back in school with the boys. “Oh they were trouble. Actually Ricky wasn’t too bad at school because he dropped out when Julian stopped helping him with every single thing. That was probably grade 9.” Very quickly you noticed the pattern that Julian was the responsible one compared to Ricky, and that Ricky took his guidance a lot of the time. After some silly moments from childhood and teen years, Sarah went on about more current events. “Ricky is really annoying a lot of the time, but I’ll admit, I do think he loves Lucy. He’s always trying stupid shit to impress her. It rarely works out the way he thinks it will though. He loves Trinity too. His daughter means a lot to him for sure,” she was revealing his redeeming qualities. After that it was hard to hate him as much. It was very difficult to believe at first, but sometimes he really is that stupid, apparently.

7 PM

You and Sarah got back to the gym ready to get focused. The pulldowns were tried again, with better form this time. Sarah had gotten the hang of the exercise a bit more and there were no big men to crash into her in the middle of it. After the pulldowns you were doing pullback rows with the machine.

Julian was looking from a distance. He was checking to make sure all the machines were running smoothly, the weights were in the right places, and on you coaching Sarah. It was getting harder for him to focus on anything but you as the workout progressed. Next, you did bent-over rows with one hand and leg on the bench. He was using the mirror to see your chest, the way the shadow between your tits was more pronounced in that position and they looked so juicy to him. That and the way your ass looked while it was leaning slightly back. What he was forgetting was that Sarah had a good full view of the mirror too while you were doing the exercise. Julian saw Sarah raising an eyebrow and her arms folded. She was so onto him. He looked down, up, then to the side, anywhere away from you so maybe you wouldn’t catch him staring.

“Hey Y/N, your gym crush is totally looking,” Sarah pointed out once you finished your bent-over rows. You glanced around the gym and saw him restocking the machine wipes dispenser. “Hah hah, very funny Sarah. Are you sure? He’s just doing work probably,” you were reasoning with her. Also yourself because it’s dangerous to get your hopes up for any guy. Your friend wished you could have seen the way Julian was looking and then looking away whenever he realized he got caught.

When you finished your workout with Sarah you decided to talk to Julian on the way out like you always do. The two of you greeted each other like usual, but this time you were giving him more from the eyes. He was standing closer up than he normally did, so he seemed a lot taller. His body was intimidating but that’s what also made it so hot. “I’m really sorry about the Ricky thing-,” “ No, don’t mention it, we all have friends who do stupid things once in a while,” you interrupted his apology. Sarah tapped you on the shoulder saying she’d meet you at the car. Julian was glad to have a bit more privacy in the conversation. “I liked how you stood up to Ricky actually. He’s my buddy but he was asking for it. Anyway, you wanna go out sometime?” You were still giving him an innocent look that made it harder for him to keep his cool. “Yeah, when?” After setting up the date you were feeling brave. “Yeah I was told you were looking over at me a lot earlier, but I said you were probably busy.” Julian’s face went red as he thought about a smooth way to respond, “It probably looked like it. Okay I was looking,” real cool Julian, he thought, fucking creepy. He was mentally kicking himself but you were giggling

As soon as you got back to your car with Sarah leaning on the passenger side, you were so excited to share what just happened. First though you were curious, “Do you think he likes me?” Sarah had seen the beginning of the interaction and assessed, “He definitely thinks you’re cute, he was looking at you that way.” That made you smile, but you smiled harder as you told her, “Ah that kind of makes sense… because he just asked if we could go out this weekend!” Sarah’s eyes widened and she screamed with you for a quick second.

Sarah’s Confessional: I’m happy for Y/N but she’s definitely too good for Julian. He better treat her like a queen. Fucker.